San Jorge de Mina, governor of the Portuguese
possessions in Guinea, and (1533) treasurer and general agent for
Portuguese India. An attempt to colonize a grant of land in Brazil
(received 1539) failed, and was abandoned. Barros died in 1570. The
book referred to in the text was his Decados, a history of Portuguese
India, written in fulfilment of a royal commission. The first "decade"
was completed in nine years (1552), the second soon after, and the
third ten years later. The fourth was left unfinished at his death,
but was completed later by Diogo do Conto, who added eight more
volumes. A complete edition was printed at Lisbon in twenty-four
volumes (1778-88). Barros was a conscientious writer and a good
stylist. (New International Encyclopaedia.)

[4] An apparent error for the word "kasis," and here wrongly used
(see Vol. XVI, p. 134, note 161).

[5] Thus (sur) in text; but, as a matter of fact, Paragua stretches
northeast from the north point of Borneo, and the Sulu archipelago
in the same direction from its northeast side.

[6] Sumatra is on the whole deficient in lakes. The largest is Lake
Singkara, about twenty miles in length by about twelve to fifteen in
breadth, with a depth of twenty-four fathoms, and is the source of the
Indragiri River. Another lies near the foot of the mountain Marapi,
and is called Danau Sapuluh kota, or "Lake of the ten forts." There are
two others in the country of the Korinchi Malays; and still another
in the country of the Lampungs, toward Java, and called the Ranu
(Javanese synonym for "water"). It is about sixteen miles long and
eight miles wide. Colin evidently refers to either the first or the
last of these. See Crawfurd's Dictionary, p. 416.

[7] India citra Gangem (if we accept Marco Polo's division) would
correspond to Greater India, or the country extending from the
Ganges to the Indus. India extra Gangem, or Lesser India, included the
territory between the eastern coast of the peninsula of India, and that
of Cochinchina or Champa. See Wright's edition of Travels of Marco
Polo (London and New York, 1892), p. 435, note. Colin says (p. 1),
that India extra Gangem or Farther India included the coasts of the
rich kingdoms of Malacca, Sian, Camboja, Champa, Cochinchina, Tunquin,
and China, as far as the confines of Oriental Tartary. The allusion
to an Asiatic Ethiopia is hopelessly confused, and may have arisen
from Marco Polo's second division of India, which includes Abyssin